Deloitte: Blockchain, a Top Tech Trend in 2019

1 year ago

Three new technologies, namely blockchain, cognitive and digital reality, have taken up the “disruptor” mantle, each poised to become a distinct macro force in its own right, according to a new report by Deloitte.

Deloitte’s annual Tech Trends report explores the technologies that will reshape business and government in the next 18-24 months. According to the firm, over the next five years, blockchain, digital reality and cognitive will likely become as important as digital experiences, analytics and cloud are today.

The report stresses out the “profoundly disruptive” nature of blockchain which will likely transform not only business but also the way humans transact and engage. It notes that large enterprises and consortia are deploying enterprise-grade blockchain solutions and that as technical hurdles and policy limitations are being resolved, we will likely see breakthroughs in gateways, integration layers, and common standards in the next few years.

“Concerns around scalability and cost-performance of transaction processing are being addressed as proof-of-stake becomes a viable alternative to proof-of-work consensus, and enterprise tools have emerged to manage and maintain high-performance blockchain stacks,” the report reads.

“When further breakthroughs occur, expect blockchain to become even more ubiquitous. The door will be open for cross-organizational business process reengineering, an arena that encompasses massive transformation and possibilities across industries, functions and geographies.”

“We will see a greater understanding of what blockchain is – and what it is not. Combined with more accessibility via blockchain services on public clouds, companies will move towards successful implementations and strategic projects that result in business outcomes – such as reducing reconciliations in the order to invoice process or financial services organizations combatting fraud,” Ghosh said in a statement.

Tokenization will continue to take hold in 2019 with loyalty set to emerge as one of the key areas to be the most impacted. Ghosh predicts that an increasing number of companies will tokenize loyalty rewards to drive better customer experiences.

He also anticipates the converge of blockchain with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) with blockchain helping companies overcome the limitations in device security and data assurance by providing a secure framework for communication between devices and enhance data security across IoT and 5G networks.